Thursday, July 9, 2015

Hey everyone! I feel like a proud mother hen with today's post. Great Lakes Lacquer is a brand new indie brand that will be launching next week. Mariah, the creator, is a friend of mine and I know that she has been working and testing and experimenting for long time, over a year in fact. And all her hard work has culminated in this gorgeous and sophisticated collection of polishes.

The inspiration for the polishes in this collection stems from Mariah's friends, which gives you a very personal feeling to the set. Mariah included her own descriptions of these special ladies so I will include those below.

Regarding formula and application: the polishes are on the thick side. I've mentioned this before, it's something that I personally like, it means I have a more opaque polish and if I need to thin anything, I can. I will say that humidity may have played a factor in that, it's been crazy humid here in Central Texas this summer. But nothing was too heavy to give me an issue when I applied each polish and they are definitely opaque, every single polish needed only two coats for coverage. I would recommend waiting a few minutes between coats.

This collection will be restocked and does not have a discontinuation date at the moment but there will be also monthly limited edition polishes, some of which are included in toward the end of the review. Those will only be available during the month that they are released.

As for the packaging, Great Lakes Lacquer comes in full size 0.5 fl oz/15 ml rounded oval bottles. I didn't think to take photos of the bottles, but you can see how they look in Lavish Layering's photos as well as the header in Great Lakes Lacquer's Facebook page. They remind me very much of older CND bottles. I am not always a fan of unusual bottle shapes but I really loved these, they are not fussy but simple and minimalist, both features I am drawn to.

A bright turquoise green creme with three different types of purple shimmer

Purple in turquoise is one of those color combinations that is a major weakness for me and this is a beautiful variation of that.

Inspired by:

"This lady is the one you want on your team when you go raiding on WoW or any other role playing game on the net. She’s also a good one to have by your side during nail polish restocks, cuz that girl can snatch anything. She’s also just the sweetest thing on earth (with a bit of attitude on the side) and just a bit shy. Did I mention pretty nails? Gosh yes. Luckily she can deliver the nail polish she enabled you on because she’s krazzie fast."

I have a feeling this will be the most popular color, because who really can resist a good blue. And this is a VERY GOOD blue.

Inspired by:

Let me tell you, this lady is an artist. And she uses her body as her canvas. From her hair, her nails, down to the clothes she wears. She’s one of those people that stalk all the Black Milk Clothing releases? Yeah, leggings are PANTS! And her hair? She does these crazy melts that look totally awesome and I wish I could rock. Besides that, she does mini Picasso’s on her nails. It’s insane the talent and creativity this lady has.

The silver lightens the teal green base and the accent of those purple/blue flakes gives it a unique color twist.

Inspired by:

This friend is always punny (see, I can do it too). She’s always the first to come up with a twisted response or to shed some laughter on the mundane. She could probably do stand up if she really wanted to but things in life just haven’t rolled that way for her. Her sunny disposition makes you wonder if maybe the clouds don’t have silver linings after all. Did I mention she’s as curious as a cat? Maybe her nine lives are the reason she’s so happy.

You know that my favorite of the collection was likely to be the red polish and yes! It IS my favorite one. It's a nice warm contrast to the rest of the cool toned collection. The dash of holo is going to give an extra sparkle factor in the sun.

Inspired by:

She’s the one that you call your wife. She gets you. She’s the yin to your yang, the reason to your crazy, the calm to your chaos. She makes life better by just being her and you miss her all the time when she isn’t around. Her kids are your kids and vice versa. Even if life has separated you for awhile, that relationship is there, always there. Being the rock to my wave, I hope you all have one of these too.

Great Lakes Lacquer The Triathlon Trainer

Two coats

Dark blue jelly base with aqua to green to gold ultra chrome flakes.

Those flakes look so freaking good against the blue. And this was the only one that I thought I would have to apply a third coat but nope, just two coats. You will have a hint of visible nail line but it's not super noticeable.

Inspired by:

The athletic. She’s as active as you can get and sometimes, it annoys the crap out of you. Why can’t I have that kind of energy or drive? Haha. This lady runs and walks and runs some more. But her favorite is swimming. Her love of water really is apparent. Her scuba dives are awesome. She’s even swum with a Whale Shark. I’m eating my own heart out thinking about it.

Great Lakes Lacquer July LE Big Lake

Available from July 12th launch release until July 31st

Two coats

Deep red creme/jelly with golden yellow sheen and shimmer

This is the color that you will reach for in the fall, when you want a warmer color to wear. To me, it's reminiscent of a classic OPI shimmer.

Inspiration:

Vacation! Yup, this year we are going up to Big Lake to stay for a week with our best friends and our children. Much fishing, more swimming, grilling, and spending time with family and friends. The inspiration for this polish is the many sunsets and sunrises I plan on watching while there. The waterfront is a place where I am able to find and capture true serenity.

Sleeping Bear Dunes is the monolith in sand. Trekking up them is no easy feat but the views are totally worth it. The shoreline in that part of Michigan is nothing short of gorgeous and breathtaking. Overlooking Lake Michigan, it really is the perfect spot in spring, summer or fall. Yeah, I left out winter.

Great Lakes Lacquer Torch’s Purple Haze

Available from August 1st until August 31st

Two coats

Red toned purple jelly base with aqua, purple, and red shimmer

A very pretty shimmer heavy polish and the jelly base leaves you with a high shine finish.

Inspiration:

I love Torch Lake. It’s absolutely gorgeous and has been picked as the third most beautiful in land lake in the world by National Geographic. It’s with good reason. The water is clear and clean, showing the most beautiful teals and blues. Then I saw a picture of a sunrise on Torch. It was this purple haze lingering as reds were starting to blaze. I’m sure we’ll revisit Torch in color again, but this is my first tribute to this awesome body of water.